moving mountains

Dipper is still approximately between sixty and eighty percent asleep. But there's an absolutely maddening noise that keeps bringing that number down, jolting him upwards towards consciousness every time he starts to sink again. He's so tired that he tries to ignore it, his brain dragging its feet on the inevitable climb to waking.

The sound persists.

Finally, he opens his eyes. He's on his bed. His feet are cold, his hip itches at a nearly unbearable level, and something is loudly pinging off the glass of his window. He doesn't know what to address first and would much rather go back to sleep, all things considered.

Then something hits the glass that's big enough to rattle the entire pane. That wakes him up fully, his adrenaline spiking.

He sits up, wincing as his hip twinges, and gets on his knees to look out the window. Just as his head is level with it a rock flies upward and bounces off, making him flinch. There are little white patches of dust all over the glass from multiple impacts. He peers down at the driveway.

Wendy is backing away from the garage. Her hand is cupped around what is no doubt another rock foraged from the decorative planters that flank the garage door. Behind her, Soos' new truck is parked at the end of the driveway.

Dipper rubs at his eyes to make sure he's not still asleep. But, nope, there's Wendy. And she's about to break his window. He waves his arms frantically until she sees him. She extends her thumb and pinky in the sign for phone and then spreads her arms in a silent 'what the heck.'

He turns back around to get his phone from his desk, but it's not there. Belatedly, he remembers that he'd fallen asleep with it on his chest. He finds it tucked in the folds of his sheets; unsurprisingly, the battery is dead. No wonder Wendy is chucking rocks. Who knows how many times she's tried to call him already.

He goes back to the window and holds up a finger: Wendy nods her understanding. He hurries out into the hallway and tries Mabel's door. It's unlocked; Mabel is wrapped in a cylindrical pile of sheets like a brown-haired burrito. Rather than waste precious time trying to wake her, Dipper grabs her phone from her desk and returns to his room.

Mabel's phone is set on vibrate and she has four missed calls, all from Wendy. Dipper dials Wendy's number and watches through the window as she answers. "What up?" she says, gazing upwards at him.

"Wendy! What's going on?" he says.

"Answer your phone, doofus!" she tells him. "Did you already forget? Epic Rescue Mission!"

He has so many questions. "But, how did you— why—"

"Dude, I'll totally explain, but we gotta roll. Get Mabel and get your butt down here so we can jet."

"I—…" Dipper swallows his confusion and decides that it's easier to just go along with it. Besides, is he really going to argue against a road trip with Wendy and Mabel? An illegal road trip, since Wendy can only have a learner's permit, if that? …Actually, that's something he needs to address. "You didn't drive down here on a learner's permit, did you, because you could really get in—"

"Dipper!" She cuts him off exasperatedly. "Come on, man, just trust me! Let's goooooo!"

"Okay, okay! But I gotta get Mabel and tell my parents and brush my teeth."

"Skip the teeth, I got like ten liters of Pitt in the back."

Dipper jumps off the bed and opens his closet, throwing together an outfit as quickly as possible. He pauses before leaving the room, then doubles back. He takes his vest off the back of his computer chair and tucks Journal A into it. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but he thinks that if he's going anywhere with Mabel and Wendy then he should have his journal.

He grabs his phone charger, hoping Soos' truck is compatible with it, and returns to Mabel's room. He doesn't have the time to wait for Mabel to be her usual recalcitrant, sleepy self, so he puts his hands on the bundle in which she is ensconced and shakes her until she starts to protest.

"Go away. I'm a snore-ritto," she groans.

Dipper knows that will last right up until he finishes his sentence. "Wendy's outside right now and we're going to Malibu to help Pacifica."

For about two seconds, Mabel is completely still. Then she springs out of her wrapping, sheets and pillows flying in every direction. She sits on her knees, hair wild and eyes wide. "Are you kidding?"

"No, now get ready!"

Mabel raises a pillow threateningly. "If you're messing with me I'll bop you into last week!"

"Go look out my window if you don't believe me! Get dressed, Wendy's waiting!"

He leaves her amid a whirlwind of clothing and goes down the hall. He stops in front of his parents' door and steels himself. He knows that lying would be the easiest thing to do, but he's hoping honesty will earn him some points, especially as he was grounded not that long ago. Besides, it's not like he has a convincing lie. He thinks the truth might be better than anything he can come up with considering it's such short notice.

He slowly opens the door and peeks inside. His parents are still asleep, of course. He debates his best course of action, then whispers, "Mom?" When that gains no response, he goes slightly louder. "Mom?"

Dad doesn't stir in the slightest (he's always been a heavy sleeper; if any parent is going to wake up and get the twins in trouble, it's always Mom). Mom shifts in her bedding, rolling onto her back. "Dipper?" she says groggily. She rises onto her elbows. It's always kind of weird to see her with tousled hair and no makeup. It's like she's more vulnerable, somehow; less of a Mom with a capital M and more of a person.

"Hey, um, so me and Mabel are going to be gone today," he says, not really holding out any hope that Mom's drowsy enough to just accept it.

"You're what?"

"We're going to be gone today. It's this whole thing and we're kind of in a hurry…" he says, inching the door shut.

"What do you think you're doing?" She's awake now. She throws off her sheets and grabs her robe from the chair next to the bed.

Dipper considers fleeing for about half a second. If Wendy left the truck running…

Sanity prevails, and he steps away from the door to wait in the hall.

Mom comes out bundled up in her robe. He's momentarily disoriented when he realizes she isn't glaring down at him anymore, and when did that happen?

"What do you mean, gone today?" she says, one eyebrow arched in question.

Dipper is acutely aware that Wendy is waiting. He tries to explain quickly. "It's Pacifica. She's… in trouble, and she called me last night and I told her I'd try to help. Wendy drove down here and we're going to Malibu to make sure Pacifica is okay."

"Oh, really, you're going to Malibu again," Mom says sharply. "Who is Wendy?"

"Another friend we made in Gravity Falls," Dipper says. Such an inadequate descriptor. A 'friend.' What do you call someone who would have died by your side?

Mom crosses her arms. "Dipper, I don't understand. What are you going to do in Malibu?"

"I… It's complicated." He doesn't know how to explain. It only makes sense when he thinks about Pacifica, not when he thinks about the situation. "She called me after her parents kicked her out or something and she needs us. I can't…" He wants to punch himself in the chest until the words come out right. What can he possibly say? How does he justify an impulse he doesn't really understand but knows in his heart is what's right? "I can't let her be alone. I can't just stay up here and pretend that she's going to be okay, I need to do something."

"She bought you another plane ticket?" Mom asks.

"No, Wendy is driving us down to Malibu."

"And when do you think you're coming back?" Mom says sternly.

"Tonight? Probably?"

Mom stares at him for agonizing moment of silence, and he can't tell what she's thinking. "I want to talk to Wendy before you go anywhere," she says at last.

"But, she said we had to—"

"You can wait five minutes for me to get dressed. Now go brush your teeth and change that shirt, it's obvious you slept in it."

Dipper can see the plan crumbling right before his eyes: Specifically, the moment Mom meets Wendy and realizes that the older teen has illegally driven six hours on a learner's permit. Ignoring the order to change his shirt, he rushes downstairs and out the front door. The morning air is cool and damp and the sun is almost blinding after the dim indoors. Wendy is leaning against the side of the truck. When she sees him, she grins.

"Hey, there he is! Long time no see," she says, arms open for a hug.

"My mom's coming out to talk to you and you drove here illegally and we're screwed!" he stammers.

Her arms drop exasperatedly. "Dude, I told you to trust me."

"I do! My mom, not so much, maybe…" He winces. "Not after this."

Wendy rolls her eyes. She takes a few steps to the side and opens the smaller door in the back of the cab, revealing a blanket-shrouded lump. Dipper doesn't know what he's looking at until he realizes the lump is breathing and wearing a baseball cap.

"Oh, it's Soos," Dipper says when recognition sets in. Then his eyes widen. "Of course! Then you could dr— Wendy! I never should have doubted you."

Wendy twists her lips sheepishly. "Okay, full disclosure: I actually went to the Shack just to borrow his ride, but he wouldn't let me go without him."

"Well, sure, you had to have an adult with you."

"Yeah, I don't think he knew that." She shrugs and opens her arms again. "Come on, man: Don't leave me hangin'."

Dipper accepts the hug, wrapping his arms tightly around Wendy. He almost expects the old thrill to come surging back at the shock of contact, but he finds it muted, pushed aside by a deeper fondness. It's not that he no longer finds her attractive: Wendy is awesome and gorgeous and always will be. It's just that it doesn't matter the way it used to. The necessity, the desperation, the unarticulated urges; he's left them somewhere behind, littering the ground of months past. That's not what he needs from her. Friendship is all she's ever offered, and he's come to understand how priceless that is. It's more important to him that she just be important to him.

His eyes are now even with her shoulder, which is kind of weird. She seems to think so, too, because she pushes him back and looks him over.

"Dude, someone got beat with the puberty stick," she notes.

He backs awkwardly away, not sure if that's a compliment. "Lucky I'm so used to beating. To taking a beating! Uh…" He slaps his hand against his face. "Can we just, pretend I didn't say that…?"

It's entirely too late for that, of course—Wendy is already laughing uproariously at his Freudian slip. And that has to be how his mom finds them, with Dipper's ears turning red and Wendy leaning against the van, cackling.